| dc.description.abstract | Cracow played an important role in the development of sport in Poland. Sport associations and clubs not
only propagated sport but also influenced urbanization processes. The first sports facilities in Cracow
were built and intended for the “Sokół” association. In 1889, the Jana Meyera company built a sports
arena at Wolska Street (currently Piłsudski’s Street). The building was enlarged and reconstructed in
1894 by a famous Cracow architect Teodor Talowski who gave it a neo-Gothic character. An interesting
example of an open-air sports area was the Sport Park of dr. Henryk Jordan realized in 1889.
Sports activist of the emerging clubs and associations in the first half of the 20th century knew that the
basis of financial existence of each club was having its own sports facilities. In 1919, Students’ Sport
Association (Akademicki Związek Sportowy, AZS) leased four tennis squares in the Cracow Park where
it built tennis courts on which international Cracow championships took place. In 1911, AZS built
a rowing landing on the right bank of the Vistula River. In the same year, the Association of Craftsmen
and Handicraftsmen Youth (Związek Młodzieży Rzemieślniczej i Rękodzielniczej) built the sport park
„Juvenia” in the southern part of Błonia. The next sports facility was created thanks to the efforts of the
management board of “Cracovia”. In 1912, the Park of Sports Games of the “Cracovia” Sports Club (Park
Gier Sportowych Klubu Sportowego “Cracovia”) was created in the south-eastern part of Błonia. “Wisła”
built its own sports park at Oleandry Street in 1914, however, it burnt down a year later.
After regaining independence in 1918, Cracow had the best sports equipment in Poland as well as
sports fields, modern tennis courts in the Cracow Park, rowing landings, an outdoor swimming pool in
the Cracow Park, an indoor swimming pool that was opened in 1927 in the YMCA building. In 1926, the
construction of the AZS stadium started. In 1935, the stadium was taken away from the academy youth
by the decision of the city authorities and transformed into a city stadium. | en |
